Judge says Calif. execution may proceed

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- California may carry out its first execution in five years, putting a man convicted of rape and murder to death next week, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel gave Albert Greenwood Brown a choice, the Los Angeles Times reported. Brown can select California's revised three-drug protocol for lethal injection or the single-drug method adopted by Washington and Ohio.

Brown, 56, raped and strangled a 15-year-old girl in Riverside, Calif., 30 years ago. Susan Jordan was attacked as she walked to school.

Fogel halted an execution in 2006, ruling that California's procedure for lethal injection was flawed and violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. He said Friday he recognized any decision he made would be controversial but said the state has an interest in carrying out death sentences.

"The moral and political debate about capital punishment will proceed, as it should," he said.